Wander Washington: Mt. Rainier

Take me away to Paradise…

Say hello to gorgeous Mt. Rainier

{Sigh}…..Look at all that mountainous beauty. I mean…really…need I say more? I feel like the picture says it all! Hmm. I’m even thinking I could just post my pictures, they could tell the story better than I could.

Have you ever had a fascination with something? I have always been fascinated and intrigued by Rainier. Maybe it’s because it’s an active volcano, or because it stands at a whopping 14,410 feet, or the fact it has 27 glaciers chillin’ on it. Or maybe it’s because it is an absolute breath taking piece of Earth, that catches my eye from where we live.

Where we love to go!

Now I know there are plenty of places on Rainier to go like Sunrise, Longmire and Paradise to name a few. But, Paradise at Mt. Rainier is my all time favorite spot up there. It’s the place my grandparents always visited when they went. The same place we always went as a family when I was younger. And, now that I have a family of my own it’s the place we go when we visit.

Not just Paradise though. We always enter through Longmire which is home to the National Park Inn and the original park headquarters. The headquarters, which was originally the home of James Longmire, has since been turned into a museum for you to check out. The National Park Inn not only offering a place to sleep but a restaurant and gift shop as well. Can I just say the gift shop has the best salmon jerky ever! Your gonna want to get in on that!

National Park Inn and Longmire

Once you head out of Longmire on your way to Paradise you’ll enjoy a beautiful drive all the way there. Don’t be surprised if you see a waterfall or two. Or if you see a spot to pull off for viewing. You might even notice that some places have a warning sign of some sort like, “Danger Cliff”. So BE CAREFUL!! Those signs are there for a reason people!

When you make it Paradise you will see the Paradise the Paradise Jackson Visitor Center and the Paradise Inn. The visitor center is amazing! With gift shops, educational areas (almost like a museum), and a place to get tasty treats, your family will love it.

Welcome To Paradise!

Depending on what time of year you go Paradise is either packed with snow or sunny and beautiful so you hike the trails. In this post we went in September a few years ago. Talk about AMAZING! Every time we go it is always during the winter so, to go during the summer and there be no snow was insane to us. Why? Because we never knew under all that snow were trails to hike, wildflowers as far as you could see and one amazing waterfall!

To see it so completely different than what we were used too…it took my breath away. I was like a kid in a candy store. I felt like I was visiting Rainier for the first time. It was simply put….GLORIOUS! Don’t get me wrong it’s absolutely beautiful during the winter too. But, no snow… instead blossoming flowers every where…man o’ man what a fantastic surprise!

If you ever decide to travel to Washington, Mt. Rainier is a must go to stop! You won’t be disappointed!